How to Understand a Malfoy
by storry-eyed
Summary: Albus Potter has always hated Scorpius Malfoy's girlfriends, but Rose Weasley is the last straw, and he makes up his mind to do something about it. Surprisingly, Scorpius is extremely receptive to the idea. Albus/Scorpius. Slash.


**A/N: **Written for the Prompt of the Day: _Don't come any closer, because if you do I'll have to kiss you_ at Hogwarts Online. Also the first time I've written Albus/Scorpius, which is quickly becoming a favorite pairing! I had a lot of trouble getting Scor right, so if anyone has any comments/suggestions they would be very welcome, thanks.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any HP characters or any part of their world, and I'm not making any money from this story.

* * *

><p>Albus stormed past terrified looking students in the corridors, heading Merlin only knew where. He was <em>sick <em>of Scorpius and his endless parade of girlfriends, each one seeming to have a lower shirt and a higher skirt than the last, but walking in on him kissing Al's cousin Rose was the last straw.

"_Albus Severus Potter, come back here-_"

Scorpius grabbed him by the arm and swung him around so that they were face to face. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Oh, now it's _my _problem," said Albus sarcastically, "thanks a lot, _Malfoy_. As I recall, _you _were the one busily snogging Rose, not me."

"I'm free to snog whomever I like, _Potter_, without getting your approval first." Scorpius's eyes were cold.

Albus tried to think of some snappy retort, but all that came to mind was _but I love you_, and that wasn't quite what he was looking for at the moment. Instead, he settled on, "She's my cousin, remember? It's practically a law in our families that I have to yell at you for snogging her."

Scorpius was watching him with a calculating expression on his face. "I'm practically a member of your family at this point, in case you hadn't noticed. Besides, that's not why."

"What?" Albus's heart suddenly felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. "What are you talking about?"

Scoripus sighed. "You're a terrible liar, Al, you know that. Even I haven't been able to help you with that. Come on, I thought I was your best friend."

"I'm not telling you," said Albus frantically. "I can't tell you. I'm sorry, Scor." Then he turned and ran, not looking back to see if Scorpius was following him, and wishing with all his heart that he would.

* * *

><p>Things didn't exactly go back to the way they had been – there was a little tightness in both their faces, an edge to their words – but it was better than not speaking at all. Scorpius continued dating Rose, and Albus continued wanting to hit them both whenever he spotted them together.<p>

The weeks sped through to the summer holidays, and if Albus had thought it was bad at school, it was nothing compared to being around his family all day, every day, yet not getting to spend hardly any time with his best friend, who was stuck to Rose's side like glue.

He began to notice a change in Scorpius – instead of seeking Rose out, he began to spend time alone. He could still usually be found at some Potter/Weasley residence, but he was definitely with Rose less often. Albus felt torn between hope and hurt, hoping that Scor might be getting tired of his clingy girlfriend who laughed too loudly and wore way too much makeup, but upset that Scorpius wasn't coming to him.

All this did nothing to dissuade his girlfriend, who clung to him even more tightly than before. Albus carefully did not make a list of all the ways he would be better for Scorpius than his cousin was and kept getting through the days somehow.

Until the afternoon in August when Rose burst into his room, sobbing loudly enough for the whole house to hear, and screamed that it was Albus's fault that Scorpius had broken up with her.

"He broke up with you? What on earth for?" said Albus, trying to remain calm. The last time he had talked to his friend, a few days before, Scor had still seemed perfectly happy in his current relationship despite his contradictory behavior. But then again, that's how it always was with Scorpius.

"I don't know why," his cousin hiccupped. "He just – just said that this wasn't the kind of thing he was looking for and there had been someone else all along. He said he was sorry if he hurt me, but not sorry for dumping me."

_Typical Scorpius_, thought Albus, before Rose's words caught up to him. "Wait. So what does this have to do with me?"

"He said he missed you and I was so obsessive over him that he couldn't take it anymore," Rose wailed, and Albus had to sit down on his bed because his knees felt suddenly weak.

Was Scorpius trying to send him some sort of secret signal? He couldn't have known that Rose would come crying to Albus, could he? Albus loved his friend with all his heart and knew him just as well, but even he couldn't understand a Malfoy completely.

Rose had stopped crying and was staring at him accusingly. "It's all your fault," she hissed, her sudden mood change taking Albus completely by surprise as he scrambled to his feet and made for the door. "I loved him more than anyone else and now it's over and it's _all your fault!_"

"No, it isn't," Albus snapped, trying to make her understand. "Look, Rose, you can't cling to Scor like you did. That's why he left you, he felt like he couldn't breathe. He wants a relationship with equals. He learned what not to do extremely well while watching his dad. He wants to be with someone who understands him, as much as anyone can understand a Malfoy."

Rose stared at him with her mouth open and Albus felt exasperated. Had she ever even understood Scorpius at all? "Look, Rose, never mind. Do you know where he is?"

"Oh, yes, that's just lovely," she snapped. "Let's go comfort Malfoy while your cousin cries in your room."

"Sounds perfect," said Albus, and ran down the stairs without another thought, as Rose shrieked in rage behind him. But he left so quickly that he couldn't her shout, sounding very confused, "But – you just described yourself – your relationship with Scor – Albus?"

Albus had floo'd to Malfoy Mannor, and scrambled out the fireplace shouting Scorpius's name. Draco Malfoy appeared through a doorway, looking a bit confused.

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy," said Albus hurriedly, not even taking the time to be intimidated. "Do you know where Scorpius is?"

"He said he had some business to take care of and he wouldn't be back until tomorrow at the earliest," said Malfoy, sounding suspicious. "Why do you ask?"

"Just trying to find him," said Albus. "I have to tell him something." He quickly went back through to his house before Scorpius's father could reply and tried to figure out what to do.

Obviously Scorpius had been unhappy in his relationship with Rose; Albus had been so jealous that he hadn't even been able to see that – he, who knew Scorpius better than anyone. He had no idea whether his idea was right or not, but there was a pattern – Scor dated girls for a while, let them fade away, then dumped them and came back to Albus. But this time, he hadn't come back, at least not right away. Maybe he was waiting for Albus to come to him.

He was tired of hiding his feelings. Even if his friend rejected him, he wanted to try. Albus had no idea if this was the right thing to do, but even if he was completely wrong and Scor rejected him, he still wanted to try. He was tired of hiding his feelings. There was a reason he was in Gryffindor after all, and although he was scared out of his wits, Albus made up his mind to tell Scorpius even if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

><p>Albus sat in the garden in the backyard, knowing that it was pointless to look for Scor when he knew his friend would find him here, for a long time. Finally, just as he was about to give up for the night and go inside, there was a movement to his left and Scorpius appeared. He had apparently been standing there for a while.<p>

_He looks gorgeous in the moonlight_, said some traitor part of his brain that wasn't incapacitated with nerves. Albus shook off the thought and managed to say, "I wondered where you were."

"I was… dealing with some stuff. Deciding something," said Scorpius quietly, sounding just as shaky as Albus did, which was almost scary because Scorpius was never ruffled or scared or anything but cool and collected and confident, until now.

"I know you broke up with Rose," said Albus in a rush, and Scorpius's eyebrow lifted in surprise. "She came to the house crying. She said… she said that you had said that there was someone else. That there always had been. And I wanted to ask you who the someone else is."

Scorpius's face was devoid of all expression as he said, "Who do you think it is?"

Throat dry, Albus said nothing. Scorpius walked slowly closer to him, and in the moonlight Albus could see his face, so close, and his gorgeous deep blue eyes, and his full lips –

"Don't." Albus's voice sounded rusty.

"Don't what?" There was a look in Scorpius's eyes that made Albus shiver.

"Don't come any closer, because if you do – "Albus swallowed. It was now or never. "If you do, I'll have to kiss you."

He had just enough time to register the startled expression on Scorpius's face before it melted into a smile of a kind that Albus almost never saw on Scor's face – open, devoid of any calculation or thought. "Not if I kiss you first," he retorted, and then his lips were on Albus's and the world melted away.

After what seemed like years, they finally pulled away to look at each other, limbs still warmly entwined in the cool evening air. "I guess it was me, wasn't it," said Albus finally, feeling a bit silly but not really caring.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and pulled Albus in for another kiss. "Of course it was, you idiot," he murmured against Albus's lips. "It was you all along."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Thanks for reading, and please leave a review!


End file.
